LINCOLN- A detailed audit recently released looking at a sample of $93 million in federal and state funds spent by the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services exposing what State Auditor Mike Foley characterized as rampant abuses. This led to as much as $12.8 million in improper payments to childcare providers. Foley said his office found that some providers took advantage of the state's loosely enforced oversight.

The DHHS subsidizes childcare providers on a sliding scale basis to care for children from low-income families. “Some of the spurious billings were so wildly excessive that one wonders whether anyone at DHHS took even the most cursory glance at them before authorizing their payment,” Foley said. At times, the DHHS was being billed by a childcare center for the same period multiple times or more days than possible in a particular month.

Investigations are being launched into care centers that previously abused the lack of oversight and employees are to be properly retrained on billing procedures. There were various other discrepancies pointed out by the audit, including improper cost rates and a lack of attendance logs. Foley expressed that the DHHS needs to be more diligent in its review of billing reports to prevent a future issue.

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